1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printer that receives print data from a printing control apparatus, such as a computer, and executes printing, as well as a printing control apparatus that is suitably applied for the printer. More specifically the present invention pertains to a technique that selects an optimum printer to execute printing in a system where at least one printer and at least one printing control apparatus are connected via a network.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a system where a plurality of printers are linked on a network, a technique called remote printer is applied to select an arbitrary printer on the network and cause the selected printer to execute printing without directly connecting respective printing control apparatuses, such as computers, with the plurality of printers. The remote printer technique is actualized by a diversity of applications. One possible application connects a computer called a printer server to the network and causes the printer server to collectively manage all the printers on the network. In response to a requirement from each computer, the printer server functions to inform the computer of the identified printers on the network and the working conditions of the respective printers and to cause print data, which represent information to be printed, to be transmitted from the computer to a selected computer.
The conventional remote printer technique generally treats a relatively small-scaled network, for example, on one floor in a building, but does not ensure the sufficient facility in larger-scaled networks. The prior art remote printer technique functionally enables a computer to select an appropriate printer for printing out of a large number of printers connected to the large-scaled network. It is, however, rather inconvenient to use printers on other floors which the user is unfamiliar with, since the user does not know the actual installation positions of the available printers on the network.
One technique proposed to solve such problems, which is disclosed in JAPANESE PATENT LAID-OPEN GAZETTE No. 9-8821, shows a map of an area in which a network is laid, displays printers connected to the network on the map, and enables the user to select an arbitrary printer on the map through an operation of a mouse. The selection of the arbitrary printer with the mouse results in obtaining an identification code, which is used to identify the printer on the network. The print data are output in the form of a packet onto the network, based on this identification code. The printer specified on the map then receives the print data via the network and carries out printing. The technique disclosed in JAPANESE PATENT LAID-OPEN GAZETTE No. 9-8821 to select the desired printer on the map utilizes a printer server as well as a file server, in which the positional information representing the positions where the respective printers are located are stored in the form of a database. The technique retrieves the database in the file server to detect the geographical positions of the available printers and causes the results of the detection to be displayed on the map in the computer.
This technique enables the desired printer for printing to be selected using the map, which is visually and intuitively excellent way for positional detection. The arrangement facilitates the selection of the desired printer for printing and the receipt of the resulting prints. Another proposed technique disclosed in JAPANESE PATENT LAID-OPEN GAZETTE No. 9-6559 stores the location of the printer, that is, the section, the division, and the floor where the printer is located, in the printer itself and causes the printer to respond to a positioning inquiry from the printing control apparatus. The printing control apparatus makes an inquiry prior to printing and selects a desired printer out of available printers displayed on the screen.
The conventional remote printer technique, however, collectively manages the database and thereby has difficulties in management and service of the system. The network manager needs to register the positions of all the printers individually in the database. This requires much labor of the network manager when a large number of printers are connected to the network. In the actual state, the user sometimes changes the physical position of the printer that is connectable with the network. The position of the printer may not be significantly changed if the printer is moved under the connection to the network. The printer connectable with the network, however, can be connected at any place with a connection node, for example, a hub in the Ethernet. It is thus highly possible that the printer may be moved to another floor, another building, or another office in a large-scaled network.
Moving the printer changes the physical position of the printer, so that the network manager should carry out the registration in the database over again every time the physical position of the printer is changed. This requires much labor and time for the management. Similar problems arise in the arrangement where the user of each printer carries out the registration. The insufficient management of the positions of the respective printers may cause the user who has selected a desired printer for printing on the map not to find the desired printer at the registered position, and may require much time and labor for the user to receive the resulting prints. The centralized management of the positions of the respective printers by a management section, on the other hand, does not allow the flexible change of the layout on each floor. Specification of the position of the printer by the name of the building or by the name of the section or the division is rather inconvenient in the event of reorganization or restructuring.
In the case of the centralized management of the positions of the printers by the management section, the network manager collectively and systematically manages the layout of the printers as well as the printer server and the file server. Each user of the printing control apparatus or the printer is accordingly required to make an application for connection of the printing control apparatus or the printer to the network and receive a permission or an approval. This series of procedure is rather complicated. In order to relieve the complicatedness of the procedure, some improvement has introduced in the printer, and the technique has been developed to automatically transmit the printable description languages and the conditions of the printer to the printer server via the network. Such improvement and development are, however, not sufficient for the efficient use of the plurality of printers connected to the large-scaled network as discussed previously. Since the prior art remote printer technique collectively manages the installation positions of the respective printers, the user of each printer connected to the network should cancel the previous positional information and make an application for a new installation position every time when the position of the printer is changed. Such information should be added to the database stored in the file server. This applies the excess loading to the network manager.
There is a directory service on the network, which obtains information with regard to a plurality of printers and printing control apparatuses and supplies the information in response to a requirement. When the computer connected to the network asks for the available resources, for example, available printers, on the network, the directory service retrieves the database and provides information with regard to the available printers. The directory service is based on the technique that allocates an intrinsic name or an identification code, for example, an IP address in the case of the network according to a TCP/IP protocol, to each printer connected to the network and specifies each printer with the unique identification code, that is, the IP address. The directory service, however, does not inform the user of the position of the printer, for example, which is closest to the computer that requires printing.
With a development of mobile computing, there is a fair possibility that the user connects a portable computer to the network in an unfamiliar place to carry out printing with a printer closer to the connection site. It is, however, extremely troublesome to obtain the information regarding which printer is the closest. In the case where a certain model of printer is specified as the standard printer of the computer and is recognizable via the network, printing may be carried out with the certain model of printer that is far away from the connection site. For example, it is assumed that remote offices in a company keep connection via a private line according to the TCP/IP protocol and a sales representative who goes from a home office to a remote office for a meeting connects a portable computer to the network and gives a printing instruction. In this case, the portable computer recognizes the same printer model as the one that is generally used in the home office, via the network and causes printing to be carried out with the recognized printer, even if the recognized printer is far away from the connection site.
Such troubles are observed more frequently with a development of the environment allowing a variety of resources, such as printers and scanners, to be utilized via the network. In one possible application, a high-performance printer, such as a color laser printer or a PostScript laser printer, is installed in a convenience store. The user gives a printing instruction from a computer at home to the high-performance printer and picks up the resulting prints in the middle of commuting. This possible application is, however, not practical so far since it is difficult to specify printers that are present in the route of commuting.